15 July 2006 www.ovlr.org Volume XXIII, Number 7

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15 July 2006
www.ovlr.org
Volume XXIII, Number 7
The OVLR Newsletter
EDITOR, APRIL, JULY, OCTOBER:
PO Box 36055, 1318 Wellington Street,
Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA K1Y 4V3
General Information
Ottawa Valley Land Rovers is the oldest and largest Land Rover club in
Canada. Membership is open to all Land Rover enthusiasts. Executive meetings
are held on the first Monday of every month. Social meetings are held on the
third Monday of every month, generally at the Prescott Hotel on Preston Street.
OVLR offers a monthly newsletter and a variety of activities throughout the
year, from mechanical seminars and off-road rallies to social events and family
oriented outings. Members receive discounts on parts from a number of North
American suppliers. Off-road activities come in several categories.The light version, which is usually entertainment during a rally or at one of our family summer events, consists of a little “mud bogging” or tours along country lanes.The
heavy stuff, which is usually several days across public lands navigating by compass, topographical maps and aerial photos, involves bridge building, river barging, and driving conditions ranging from cedar swamp to rocky hill winching.
Dixon Kenner ([email protected])
EDITOR,
BALANCE OF
2006:
Terry King ([email protected])
PRODUCTION EDITOR:
Spencer Norcross ([email protected])
PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE:
Bruce Ricker ([email protected])
CONTRIBUTORS:
Ben Smith, Mike Rooth, Dixon Kenner,
Kelly Kilgour, Bill Maloney,Ted Rose, Len Carter
OTHER HELP:
Murray Jackson, Fred Joyce, Bruce Ricker
Membership: Canadians joining throughout the year pay CD$30 per year,
Americans and others pay US$25 per year. membership is valid for one year.
The OVLR Executive:
The Ottawa Valley Land Rovers Newsletter
President
Jean Leon Morin
ISSN 1203-8237
[email protected]
is published twelve times per year for club members. The editor welcomes
submissions of text and photographs for publication.
Secretary-Treasurer
Dave Pell
Submissions: Articles may be submitted to the Editor, Dixon Kenner
([email protected]) or via post, to the club address. .
Deadlines: Submissions to the OVLR Newsletter must be received
by the 15th of every month for inclusion in the following month’s
newsletter. All items submitted for publication should be legible and
signed. Names maybe withheld by request. This is your newsletter. If
you wish to write anything, we welcome your input of any kind.
Editorial Policy: The Editor of the OVLR newsletter reserves the
right to edit any submitted material for space and content considerations. Articles, statements, and opinions appearing in the OVLR
newsletter do not necessarily reflect the position of the officers,
board of directors, members of the OVLR, or its sponsors or advertisers. Where specific data regarding operation, safety, repairs, or legislation are concerned you are advised to obtain independent
verification.The Club, officers, and contributors can accept no responsibility for the result of errors or omissions given in this newsletter or
by any other means.
Copyright: Pursuant to the Berne Convention, no portion of the
OVLR Newsletter may be reprinted without written permission of the
editor. Copyright is held by the author of the article and the balance
held by OVLR. Where permission is granted, citation must include
month and year of the OVLR issue.
OVLR Radio Frequencies:
VHF: 146.520
CB Radio: Channel 1
FRS: Channel 1 sub 5
Shortwave: 14.160Mhz
[email protected]
Events Co-ordinator
Your name here
[email protected]
Off-road Co-ordinator
Fred Barrett
[email protected]
Exec member at-large
Andrew Jones
[email protected]
Past President
Christine Rose
Club equipment officer
Bruce Ricker
Auditor
Christian Szpilfogel
[email protected]
Archivist
Your name here
Marshal
Murray Jackson
[email protected]
Webmasters
Dixon Kenner, Ben Smith, Bill Maloney
More details regarding Land Rover events can be found at:
http://www.ovlr.org/Events.other.html
Land-Rover FAQ:
http://www.lrfaq.org/
OVLR/Land Rover HAM:
14.160Mhz @ 01:00GMT Tuesdays
“What idiot used stripped nuts to hold the diff on?
Oh, that would be me!”
– Dixon Kenner
Greetings;
Another Birthday Party, the twenty-third in fact, has
come and gone. The weather was super. A noticeable
lack of rain and the temperatures stayed fairly temperate,
both a lovely change from years past where either a deluge came or the weather was one of those long, breezeless Summer days. As usual some of my favourite people
were there. In fact, some one hundred people showed
up, with the ratio of Series versus modern vehicles moving back towards an increase in Series participation.
Everybody was friendly and the event came off without a
hitch. Some club members have extended some of the
light and medium off-road courses as our access to the
lands immediately to the sough of the main campsite
remain closed to our use.
While there were people testing out the trails on Fri-
This Month’s Cover:
day, the main event took place on Saturday with numerous groups leaving the main site throughout the day to
try out the various trails.
Robin Craig, with the assistance of several helpers, put
together a challenging RTV for Saturday afternoon. This
year’s course had tight turns, sections where you drove
down a slope and had to reverse back up and along a
slightly different path. However, despite the tricky nature
of the course, Dave Bobeck pretty much walked through
it while others bottomed out or got tires gashed. He was
tied with Paul King, but this year, rather than have the
top placing individual do something like drive the course
backwards, and preferably blindfolded, Robin settled to
Land Rover corporate knowledge. In third place was
Luke Bryan in a Defender 110.
In other corners of the field, Dave Lowe and Team
Daphne spent the weekend draining all the mayonnaise
On the road at the Birthday Party…
Photo: Dixon Kenner
in the next month or so…
July 18
August 5-6
August 15
Social at the Prescott,
Preston Street, Ottawa
Blacker Than Night,
Central New Jersey
future events:
(Dates & times subject to change)
September 16-17 British Invasion,
Stowe, Vermont
September 18
October TBD
The Oiler
West end of Ottawa
early October
Mid Atlantic Rally
Central Virginia
out of their motors, axles and gearboxes after having
spent the better part of an hour underwater. At this late
hour I am getting conflicting reports from people on
who is to be praised, or blamed for this occurrence. Was
it Dave being towed into a lake against his will? Was it
Tom succumbing to Dave’s silver tongue and going
forth at his insistence? And what of the other innocent
people tied in between? Hopefully a better report will be
available for the October newsletter when we write up
the truth of the matter.
Saturday evening saw numerous gatherings, one large
one taking place at the Club’s beachfront camp site in
the Provincial Park. A bonfire, lovely cool weather, and
a noticeable dearth of Park Rangers made for a most
enjoyable time that went way into the wee hours of the
morning for more than one person.
Sunday saw the traditional auction with Christine
Rose taking the lead on running up the prices on as
many of the donated items as possible. This year the
club saw everything from a Series rear cross-member
donated by RoverParkBoys (Wise Owl) of Alberta to
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Land Rover Gear from both Land Rover Ottawa and
Waterloo.
The event ended with the scattering of vehicles both
back home, and some, like Alaistar Sinclair heading
back out onto the trails for one last run.
As with any large event, the Birthday Party is the result
of the combined efforts of a team of people. The 2006
edition was organised and led by Dave Pell supported by
a cast of many. Some of these people were:
Organisation: Dave Pell, Fred Barrett, Nathan Fowler
and on site JL Morin
Trails: Terry King, Kevin Newell, Fred Barrett, Dave
Pell, and Robin Craig
Dash plaques: Dave and Gabe Pell, Photo Dixon
Kenner, skinny legs courtesy of Ben Smith
Food aspect: Bytown catering, Dave and Gabe Pell,
Robin Craig. Tim Horton’s (Perth) for Sunday’s coffee
& doughnuts, muffins & bagels.
Auction: The club membership dues are used exclusively for newsletter publication, insurance and the
direct operating costs of the federal incorporation. As a
result, the club relies on events cross-subsidising one
and another to help out for expenses that the membership dues do not cover. Every year the club holds an
auction at the Birthday Party of donated items from a
variety of suppliers, the proceeds helping the club maintain events and such. This year we had the following
groups or individuals donate items:
Wise Owl/ Rover Park Boys (Vancouver BC, St.
Albert, Alberta)
Land Rover Ottawa
Land Rover Waterloo
Atlantic British Parts (Mechanicsville, New York)
Private Donations: J-L Morin, Patrick Findlay, Len
Cater, Andrew Barr, anonymous.
Our auctioneers were Christine Rose, Peter Gaby and
JL Morin.
The RTV relies on the efforts of a large number of
marshals. This year, all decked out in red shirts were Robin Craig, Jeffery Murray, Nathan Fowler, Peter
Gaby, Francois Juneau, Bill Kessel, JL Morin, and several others that we are missing names for.
And finally, we malso mention A great big thank you
to the Deacon clan (Scott, Monique, Cathy and Marion) as well as Ernie for the use of their land.
Ottawa Valley Land Rovers July 2006 Newsletter
a Uncle Mike Rooth writes: I’ve bought another one.
80” this time. Well, actually 2 7/8” wheelbase three inches
long OA. Still in its original box. I’ve unbolted it from the box
(honest). It is a Dinky (read Hornby and Meccano, same company), AA series one. In full AA livery, that is Automobile Association, not the other lot, I,ve a while to go yet. It is a soft top,
is in absolutely mint condition and cost me the princely sum of
£9.50.
It’s a bit odd though. The thing was bolted to the box, therefore a “collectors” item, and beautifully detailed. It has two
spare wheels, one on the bonnet and one behind the bulkhead.
When you gently remove the “soft top” there are lengthwise
seats in the back a correct dash and seats in the front. Now. I
know if you are a genuine “collector” you should not remove
the “model” (AKA toy) from its box. So being a total twerp, I
have binned the box. What, I ask myself, is the point in having
a nicely detailed model if you cant see the nicely detail? Perhaps I should have preserved the box, since it seems to be more
valuable than what is in it. All I know is that.
A) I am looking at a nicely made S1 toy, in mint condition,
literally.
B) The little Land Rover will take up less than half the
space on the shelf than the bloody box.
C) She likes her friends.
D) The DA won’t let me go around the Friday flea market
for a while.
July 2006 Newsletter Ottawa Valley Land Rovers
E) Ummm. Don’t think there is one.
Dinky doesn’t exist any more I think. Corgi was/is much better. This was an attempt to outdo Corgi. However, I am definitely well chuffed with this find. A ‘49 S1 model, little
headlamps behind the grille, as made? OK, if he faked it I still
don’t care. It was cheap enough. And I didn’t buy it as an
investment.
Well,you dont do that with Land Rovers do you?
a May saw the traditional Oxford Mills car show put on
the the Anglican Parish of Oxford Mills. A quiet and sedate
show with a broad mixture of vehicles. From the American
Thirties through the Fifties, to European cars of different vintages, it is always a nice chance to get out and enjoy the country drive, unless of course you were Dixon Kenner who made
it half way there before the rear diff seized up on a divided highway, leaving him without tools, other owners either trapped in
the core of the City through street closures or otherwise. Dale
Desprey eventually came to his rescue, noting that this was the
second time this has happened to him. Watch your differentials, Nigel’s Disease may be ready to strike others! This year
saw Peter Gaby and Gordon Bernius there with Rovers, numerous others sadly failing to appear for a variety of reasons.
a The English Autojumble by Alan Richer
England is the home of some ancient and venerable traditions - merchanting being the source of some of them.
A classic example of these traditions is the car boot sale - and
its honored brother the autojumble.The latter
is, for an American, a delightful foray into
piles of oily, rusty, nasty-smelling used parts
liberally interspersed with true treasures we
never see here on our side of the Atlantic.
An example of this is the autojumble I stumbled into at Gaydon on Land-Rover day there.
From afar it seemed a noisone collection of
cardboard boxes filled with junk and hopeful
owners looking to turn a profit off the contents
of said boxes.
From close-up it seemed I was about right,
only the smell of rotting upholstery was worse.
Being the scavenging packrat I am, I dove
right in with my English colleague in tow.
The arrangement was much like any flea market - rows of stalls with wares displayed on the
ground or on tables, most unpriced but some
few items sporting price tags fluttering in the
breeze.
5
The items on display, however, were definitely not
mundane - at least to me. Gauges, instruments,
switches, valves, bits and bobs of every sort and description for any type of Rover ever built filled the stalls and
in some places overflowed into the aisles.
Thing was - most of these items had never seen the
light of day in used condition in the United States, or if
they had it was at some exorbitant Tiffany-esque price
that mortal man’s wallet simply couldn’t handle.
It was simply the law of supply and demand working.
Most of the toys for sale here simply were leftovers from
old Rovers that had been broken for parts - and the fact
that we were on Land-Rover’s home turf just made the
supply that good. I’d have filled a freight container two
or three times over had I been able to - the items here
that were treasures to me were throwaways to the other
shoppers.
Seats - full 110 seat sets for 50 pounds. Wheels, tyres,
wings, bonnets, complete bulkheads, chassis (new and
used), engines, transmissions...the list is endless. However, as I was restricted to what I could stuff into one
empty suitcase I had to buy smaller treasures.
Some of the items I personally bagged were a Smiths
bulkhead-mount heater for the princely sum of 15
pounds. As the last one of these I had seen for sale in
the US went well over a hundred dollars an untested
heater seemed a safe bet. From the same stall I bought
a Smiths voltmeter in oily but great shape for a pound
(with the proprietor’s lunch bag thrown in to protect
my pockets from the oil).
Nearby in a pile of 3.5 V8 discards I found a used
water pump for a fiver. This may not seem much, but
LRNA’s retail price for this item is over 300 dollars. In
the same pile was a good carburettor intake manifold that would have been mine too had I had room for it
(the tenner it would have cost was a triviality).
On and on, aisle by aisle, through all of the boxes of
ex-MOD kitchenware, piles of castoff overalls,magnetic “fuel conditioners” and entire rolling chassis.
The weight in my carryall bag grew as I went along.
Added to the toys above was a pair of Land-Rover uniform coveralls still sporting the factory patches for 8
pounds, bags of new lock tab washers for a pound fifty,
nuts, bolts and oddities I just hand’t seen anywhere
else.
If you ever get the chance to visit one of these
paragons of used merchandise marketing, be sure to
bring a shoulder bag, plenty of cash and a friendly attitude and you’ll be surprised at the gems you’ll turn up.
a Some people may be interested in the durability of a Land Rover when impacted at a high rate of
knots in the side. Here is a very recent example 6
Some of you may know Rob Ferguson from other Birthday
Party’s, British Invasion at Stowe et cetera. The week before the
Birthday Party Rob was heading down March Road in Kanata
(a major thoroughfare I would add) in his recently restored 88”
when a lady in an Altima blew a stop sign and hit the side of
the Land Rover with a fair bit of force.
The impact was just behind the right front wheel on the rock
slider/bulkhead outrigger area. The rear wheel must have ridden up on her car (totalled) as it went underneath because the
LR got launched and rolled two or three times off the road
according to witnesses. Rob ended up in the hospital with some
100 stitches and despite other bruises and soreness is OK.
For an amusing anecdote, Rob’s greatest worry when he
came to was where his laptop was (originally on the passenger
seat, found up in a spruce tree by his wife). The paramedics (an
off duty paramedic was one of the first) were actually the last
emergency service on the scene according to his wife. There
was only a stop sign for the other person, and she was injured
as well, ending up with broken ribs and organ damage even
though the air bag deployed. She didn’t even slow down for the
stop sign.
a Hmmm, Fred Dushin sends us these photographs of
Ollie, his short wheelbase Series IIA, helping a neighbour
cut, rake, and bale his fields.
The Land Rover will be ressurected. The right rear parabolic
blew apart but basically the frame looks OK, bulkhead and
front end not too bad. Everthing from the bulkhead back above
the frame has to be replaced though.
Yes, petrol tank did leave the vehicle, such was the force of
the impact.
a A Bad Day from Bill Maloney
So I’ve got the bike mounted and the last of the stuff loaded
and I take the 88 out to get gas and calibrate the compass. Just
as I get to the pump it dies. I’m puzzled but aware of it and fill
it up. It starts but with difficulty and I drive it to a quiet circle
to calibrate the compass and it dies. I figure the calibration can
wait and start it again. This time it is really unhappy. I get it the
mile and change to the next stop sign and it stalls and I roll
around the corner and can’t get it started again. This is a blind
corner that a lot of people run though without stopping. I’m
desperately trying to get it going when a big truck whips around
it as another car is coming in the opposite direction. He stops
in time but I know this is a bad place and put it in gear and
crank the starter to move it about 40 feet so I’ve got a bit more
safety room. I pop the hood and there is gas pouring down the
side of the carb. I figured the top gasket had failed or the o-ring.
After more false starts I found that with the air cleaner off if I
just held the throttle open for a minute then cranked it it
started to catch. I got it going again and zipped up the street
and coasted into the driveway.
First thing I do is turn on the radio in the garage and Daniel
Powter’s Bad Day is playing. I suppose it’s not much of a coincidence as they play the fucking song every other hour. Actually I did get a laugh out of it the day after Zarkowie bought the
camel farm. Comedy Central had a clip of him trying to shoot
his jammed light machine gun to the tune of Bad Day with the
audience cheering. I thought that was amusing.
I have a new carb I had gotten from British Bulldog that
leaked gas from the start that I had gotten a new o-ring for from
TLR this winter and was glad that I did. I’d tried everything else
and it was the only thing left to try on it. I stripped it down and
carefully eased the o-ring on with some silicone spray and
bolted everything down. Once I got it on I pumped the primer
to get gas to it and fuel started squirting out the vent again.
Crap.
So I strip and clean the old carb and file down the high spots
again and give it a new o-ring and gasket. As I’m assembling it
and checking the float level I notice that the float is cracked
open and disintegrating. Out it comes and I dig through some
old parts to find an original Zenith float that’s intact and in it
goes and gets adjusted. I bolted it on and pumped the primer
and the fuel came up to the filter and beyond then stopped
flowing, as it should. I fired it up and it ran with no extra fuel
leaking or pouring down the throat. I took it up to the school
and calibrated the compass and came back and it was a bit
lopey but not stalling. A tach confirmed it was idling at
7
500rpm. I raised it to 750 then adjusted the idle mixture til it
sped up and smoothed out then re adjusted the idle speed and
did another check of the mixture and now it’s running quite
well. It was a pain in the ass and not what I wanted to be doing
this afternoon but it’s better to happen here than on the way to
the birthday party. So now I’m ready. I think.
Come to think of it this was a lucky day.
a Internet Land Rover gems:
1. Watch a video regarding the disassembly of a 109 on the
Internet – It’s a chap named Shawn who hails from Montana
but now lives in Nova Scotia. The truck is named Fliver.
http://www.cornerstone-studios.com/fliver.wmv
(note: Windows media video so you probably need Windows
Media Player to see it)
2. LR3 navigates a Herc
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/05/01/1628323.htm
Definitely not Tread Lightly. Vehicles in Iceland. A on-line
video.
http://www.best4x4xfar.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album
=topn&cat=1&pos
a Some interesting Land Rover half-shaft commentary by
William Leacock from the LRO List.
Time to get on the soap box and add some more fuel to the
a Alistair Sinclair has a working Land Rover! Yes, as much
shock as this may be to many people, Alistair made it to and
from the recent OVLR Birthday Party in his short wheelbase.
For those of you that remember, Alistair’s vehicle has been languishing for a while, first north of Ottawa by a picturesque lake,
and then later in the west-end of Ottawa along one of the more
travelled thoroughfares.
fire. I stand by my earlier statement that the LR half shaft
design is poor. It is poor because they were not designed to take
the loads, stresses and strains of a series 2 - 2 1/4 litre engine,
compounded even further by the introduction of the 109.
The half shafts are the same diameter as those in the early
Rover cars, (the differential is also a Rover car item), fine for a
52 hp at the flywheel engine in a vehicle weighing around a
ton. Add weight, power and larger diameter tyres and the
design is inadequate. In addition, the ten spline ends are a big
stress raiser. The principle cause of failure is fatigue. The cone
shaped failure of the shaft, at the end of the planet gear spline
is classic stress failure. Half shafts fail on vehicles that were
never driven off road for this reason.
I note the defence of the offset differential, however the reason for the offset is simply that the use of a transfer box shifts
the drive to the side, since the alternative would be to raise the
gearbox and increase the height and Centre of Gravity, the
designers followed the only real option they had.
The Range Rover does better because
the half shafts are longer, and the loads
are typically less due to the tyre diameter and the differential ratio and the permanent four wheel drive.
I am annoyed by the fact that it took
the Rover designers over 30 years to correct the problem with the introduction
of the ENV on a few vehicles followed
by the Salisbury on the 109 around
1970. Later still the introduction of 24
splines further improved the standard
Rover design.
a ebay auction: 4653975513
“VINTAGE LAND ROVER JUNKYARD SERIES 1 RARE SERIES 2
RARE” first bid for 13 crappy LRs with
shot frames and some other parts like
wings, rear tubs and windscreens:
$100,000. The vendor is Cheshire
Motors and we will leave it at that. Pho(continued after photo spreads)
8
a 81” Prototype infomation from Australia
Diana Alan from Sydney writes: I have just found your
well done and useful site and am browsing through the
information particularly the history data when I came
across the reference to the 81” prototypes.
Were these Rover Co. development prototypes or the
production 80” vehicles modified for the British Army as a
test bed for the Rolls Royce B40 engine, destined eventually for the Austin Champ? If you are referring to the later
then these would not generally be considered prototypes
any more than Land Rovers around the World fitted with
various engines from a multitude of manufacturers. The
British Army tests never considered the Land Rover as anything other than a platform to test the engine and there
were no serious considerations for its eventual use in the
Land Rovers being developed by the Rover Company at
the time. The engine on the other hand was to be the standard 4 cylinder power plant for all British Army “Fighting
Vehicles” of that size as there were also B60 and B80
engines destined for larger/heavier vehicles such as the
Ferret scout car and the Saracen armoured personnel car-
rier. These later engines were tested using Austin and other
trucks as the test platform, without intention to use them
in the particular brand trucks.
Some of the tests on the Rolls Royce B40 engine for the
British Army were actually performed by the Australian
Army and the reports of those Australian tests can be
sourced from the Australian National Archives. Although
as a foreign national you may not meet the criteria for
access. However having seen and read a number of the
original reports, I can attest to the fact that the Army Testing Establishment was very clear that the modified 80”
Land Rovers were nothing more than test beds. In fact
simultaneously with the Rolls Royce B40 tests in Australia
was the test of a GM 2.28 litre 6 cylinder engine in another
80” Land Rover, these tests were conducted between
December 1951 and mid 1952. The British Army number of
the B40/Land Rover used in Australia was 11B C77, you
may be able to find out more information as to the chassis
number of the car in question.
I hope this clarifies some of the information on your site.
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a Land Rover sightings in various movies: “Ice
cold in Alex” (1958). A group of army personnel and
nurses attempt a dangerous and arduous trek across
the deserts of North Africa during the Second World
War. The leader of the team dreams of his ice cold
beer when he reaches Alexandria, but the problems
just won’t go away. If you watch the end of the film,
as “The End” unrolls, you will see them driving off
in a Land Rover!
a A series cross reference from Court Nichols.
I needed to replace the brake master cylinder on
my ‘72 series III SWB.
Unfortunately, it gave up in a rural area and I
needed to come up with something to get it home. I
hand braked it down to a junkyard, pulled the MC,
and started looking around for something similar.
I finally ended up pulling a MC from a ‘96 Ford
Explorer and it bolted right into place with no modification. The only problem; the threads on the rover
brake lines didn’t fit the Ford MC. No problem. I cut
the compression fittings from the Ford and with the
help of a flaring tool, I put them on the Rover’s lines.
The brake line OD on the rover was a perfect fit with
the ID on the Ford compression fittings. I bled the
system and have been driving on it for over a year
now. I believe it gives better braking than the original, but it certainly works as well as it did before. It is
at least available in any parts store at a very reasonable price (US$32.00 at Autozone vs. US$269.00 at
other leading LR parts suppliers).
tos are worth a thousand words, and the aluminium price may
be greater than the value as parts!.
a Alternate parts: For the late Series IIA or Series clutch
master - Wilwood generic brake master of the same piston
diameter. It’s an exact bolt-in match for the Girling part, available from any speed shop and works great.
http://www.wilwood.com/Products/006-MasterCylinders/005CSBMC/index.asp.
I believe you want the 3/4” one. Here’s a supplier that has it
for $45 US:
http://www.hotrodsusa.com/store/mastercylinders.html.
a Handy Range Rover tip - rotor bolt torque:
When replacing brake rotors on a RRC, pinning the
rotor/hub assembly down to torque the rotor bolts can be a difficult and frustrating task. It’s a nasty-sized item and isn’t really
easy to clamp or otherwise hold.
Easiest way to immobilize it is to drop it into the centre of the
wheel removed from the car to fix the brakes – the hub will
rotate a bit but the weight of the tyre will keep it stable to allow
the bolts to be tightened properly.
20
a An interesting story from the Suffolk LR
Owner’s Clublist:
Was in Norwich yesterday at one of those Mc.D synthetic
burger shops enjoying my quarter pounder happy meal
watching the comings & goings of the car park when the anti
4x4 lot turned up, (didn’t think they ate meat), & parked next
to the disco in a Nissan Micra. While they were waiting for
their order they were muttering about how there were too
many 4x4s in the car park… (2), mine & a 110, the worrie
kicked in as they are parked next to mine. 5 minutes later
these 4 idiots think its great fun to flick those ‘orrid slices of
green gurkin out of their sun roof at the Disco windows, to
make matters worst throwing rubbish too where there was a
perfectly good Mc.D’s bin just behind them. People eating in
started asking whose Discovery it was & how mad the owner
was gonna be… I didn’t say anything, got up strolled across
car park picking up Mc.D’s bin on the way, the look of horror
on the faces of these idiots as I upended bin straight thro their
sun roof. PRICELESS!! Bin was at least quarter full off milkshake as well as the usual bits of uneaten. Got a round of
applause from the customers & work staff.
Here we go, once again
Ben Smith
I didn’t make it to the Birthday Party this year; the first time
in 10 years. I was busy twisting wrenches on Dora, again. Many
club members are familiar with my 1972 marine blue Series III
88”. She was my (mostly) faithful steed, and only car, from 1991
to 1997. In fall 1998 on the way
back from an OVLR event at
the LaRose forest she lost oil
pressure. A quick rebuild in
Dixon’s laneway got her the 800
miles back to Boston, but the
pressure wasn’t good. A rear
spring mount also broke free on
that ride home. An inspection
revealed that the re-enforced
frame was on its last legs. Since
everything else had been
changed, the oil pressure loss
must be due bad cam bearings.
Which meant that complete
rebuild was in order.
Life got in the way of that project. 4 moves and 3 jobs later Dora found
herself towed from Boston to Texas, left in
Texas for 9 months, towed to California,
then towed back to Texas 6 months later,
and finally towed to NJ in 2001. She was
briefly brought to running status durng
her second stay in Texas. In fall 2003 my
Dave Bobeck, Christina and I took her to
pieces. In 1995 I had sourced rust free California frame from a 1960 SII 88 and carted
it through more moves that I want to
count. This was stripped and painted to
replace Dora’s failing frame. The old frame
had been entirely covered with a 2nd layer of
1/8” steel so this was at least Dora’s 2nd
rebuild. An engine was completely rebuilt.
Everything steel was stripped and painted.
Life got in the way again inducing delays.
Dora finally found herself together in the
spring of 2005. I drove her up to the Birthday
Party and she was at Blacker Than Night. All
seem right in the world, I had my Land Rover
back. Then the accident happened.
In October 2005 I was ready to head down to the ROAV
MAR in convoy with Bruce Fowler and another LRO from NJ.
I decided to flat tow Dora behind my ‘94 Disco 5 speed. It was
a rainy day with the Disco in convoy lead. About 10 miles from
home after cresting a hill, I
found a delivery truck coming
to a stop in the middle of the
highway in heavy traffic. In a
heartbeat that seemed to take
forever I tried to avoid the
truck, failed with a skid, a
bang, airbags, and a spin.
When everything came to a
rest it was a 5 party accident.
The tuck had hit a car in front
of it on a side road. And Dora
had clobbered a car that tried
to pass as we spun. Luckily
there were no injuries. But all
of those months of work were
ruined.
The Disco had a good life, 197,000
miles at the time of the accident. She rests
out back behind the barn and was the first
to be replaced. I searched high and low
looking at a half dozen 5 speed Discos
while commuting with the 101FC. In the
end it was OVLR member Quinten Apsen
who spotted a 1996 Silver Disco in the
Craigslist for Washington DC. After Q
took a look at it, I bought it.
Dora was still in sorry shape. Wings
wrenched and smashed. Radiator, fan and
breakfast twisted. One 4” amber turn signal
shattered. But the worst was the frame. Everything from the #2 crossmember (engine) back
was ok. In front was buckled and twisted. I
found a new, unused, galvanized, Marsland
chassis with parabolic springs on eBay.in Indiana. One woman’s divorce was Dora’s gain.
(That was a sad story. The terms of the divorce
was that one party got the frame and springs
while the other got the rest of a SIII 88 and
the title. The day after I bought the frame, the
21
other party gave the rest of the Rover and title back. Pure spite.)
The New Year came and went with Dora still sitting in her
mangled state. A phone call from Dave Bobeck asked what I
was doing Martin Luther King weekend? It turns out that Dave
had to work in NYC the following week. Dave showed up for
the weekend. Bill Maloney was recruited. That weekend the 3
of us (along with help from Christina, Cristina and Peter) in an
unheated garage started the frame swap. Damage parts came
off. The body and hard top were supported from the rafters and
lifted. The chassis was rolled out on dollies. Axles, engine,
tranny, brake lines and muffler were swapped over to the new
frame. Then the new rolling chassis was slid under the rear
body and mounted. It was a long, cold 3 day weekend, but a lot
of the heavy lifting was done.
Despite good progress life got in the way again. But I did get
some parts into the queue. A military SIII breakfast was purchased on eBay. I spotted a post from a LR friend on the
mendo_recce email list (northern California) about an almost
new, only used for 3 months, radiator that he wanted to sell. A
price was struck and soon that was in the post. The breakfast
was stripped and painted, a new plastic grill from Atlantic
British, and a new front exhaust pipe was bought off of eBay.
Soon it was May. Bill Maloney called up and asked after the
Dora project. “Mumble, mumble, not much.” He came over
and we put in a day of wrench twisting. Brakes and clutch were
attached and bled, breakfast and radiator installed, and the
steering attached. Along with many little jobs here and there.
Thirty days to the BP and Dora was getting closer.
Being ever optimistic that I can get too many things done in
too little time, I spent two weekends in June helping Q take
apart his 1953 80”, reconditioning parts, and moving the parts
to a 1953 replacement rolling chassis. We made great progress
on that project. Meanwhile while Dora sat in the garage.
Coming into the Birthday party week I was no father along
than May. But it looked like all that I needed was wings and a
fuel tank, right? No. Monday night had commitments. Tuesday I was up late installing the fuel tank, most of parking brake
assembly, working on a doner set of wings that needed all light
assemblies, putting in a battery and connecting up the ignition
system. Dora started right up with a shot of ether! The fuel system was primed and she fired right up on gas! A good sign! I
only let her run for 10 seconds since I didn’t have coolant in
yet. Wednesday night
involved installing a
seat, hooking up the
speedo cable, installing
running lights and turn
signals into the wings
adding coolant. Thursday night had commitments. Now it is
crunch time.
22
I had taken Friday as a vacation day so I got up early and
started in. The final connections in the parking brake were
made. The wings went on. I went down to Motor Vehicles and
registered Dora as the California registration had lapsed. The
wiring harness was hooked to the engine, front lights and rear
lights. All was electronically working except that the charge
light on the alternator was lit. Fatal for a 600 km run up to Silver Lake. The engine made a clattering sound on
overrun and was racing. Ubolts were trimmed to size.
A bumper was installed. Two tires had bead leaks
that would loose 10 lbs/day, so they were
unmounted, cleaned up, reinflated and installed. The suspension bolts had to be
tightened. Little things that add
up to a full day. Day waned
until night as the reality of not
making the BP sunk in.
Saturday I was up and twisting
wrenches again. The alternator problem
was a missed hot lead returning to the solenoid. Splash guards went into the wings. The grill was
mounted. The bonnet was straightened. The clattering was
from the alternator tension bolt getting stripped and the belt
squeeling. Out cam the alternator, a tap run through, some
head scratching and ending up using a bolt from the back side
and nut to secure it. By now it was getting to be dinner time. I
couldn’t make the BP before midnight on Saturday night. Reality was final, there was no point to
trying to make it to the BP. Dora
took a lap around the field instead
of the RTV trials course. Sunday
instead of the heavy off road or
Calabogie I did three laps
around the field along with some
runs on my off-road trail to test
her at operating temps. I still
need to adjust the throttle linkage,
but other than that she is ready for service. Only 2 days late. But ready for the
BP in 2007!
How many lives does a Land Rover have? I’ve taken her to
parts and put her together twice. At least one prior owner took
her apart and re-enforced the whole frame. Dora 4.0.
23
A Friday Story
Mike Rooth
I took Ada into town this morning. Just a little gentle exercise.
Nothing to stress her *too* much. I wanted a haircut. Lies. I
*needed* a haircut. Fine, so I paid my £1.30 for the privilege
of parking on the old Cattle
Market (to which the local council have done bugger all
since the cattle market shut down over 30 years ago) and and
toddled orf to have aforesaid tonsure. Fine. The barber was in
his usual place, which amounts to sitting in one of his chairs
with his feet up on the other one reading the paper. With the
TV on. He doesn’t want customers. He heaves an audible sigh
when anyone goes in, gets up reluctantly, says “Siddown mate”,
and cuts hair badly, presumably so you wont go back. If you
persevere though, he gets the message that you aren’t going to
go away, just might tell the rest of the town what crap he is, so
does a decent job in case he loses his. Job that is, not hair. (I
don’t know who cuts his, but it’s crap.)
That done I proceeded to the real reason I had woken Ada
up on a Friday morning. There is a Flea Market in town, and I
wanted to trawl it for model Land Rovers. Without the DA,
who is a little puzzled by my enthusiasm for the toy stall. Actually puzzled is the wrong term. Try “impatient” or “contemptuous”. And I found one. The Mersey Tunnel Authority had
some 88” S11 built to tow afflicted drivers out of the tunnel.
And there on the stall was the Dinky model of one. (Actually
its a toy, but we don’t like to admit this). It was (And presumably still is) battered, axles bent, and underside a little rippled.
“How much?” Quoth I. “Nine quid”. “No Way”. I would have
given him about seven quid, because it must be fairly rare. But
I may just try to find an excuse to go down next week and knock
him down a bit. A left hook may do it. Followed by a knee in
24
his balls and a swift exit. We’ll see.
I had been informed that I needed new boots. Frankly I don’t
see what is wrong with dropping bits of rotting rubber on the
lounge carpet, because I’ve had these boots for about seven
years, and they are comfortable.
I think my feet are more important than a new lounge carpet. After all, it has to gain experience. But the DA had seen
some boots at £25.Brown. Cheap. And I was ordered. So I went
to try and find these boots.
Which I finally did. £22. Brown. I dutifully bought them.
The reason that they were so cheap, you can pay about £80
to £100 for a pair of boots, appears to be that if you stuff steel
toecaps in them, they are “Safety Boots”. And they are cheaper.
Right. After that, I went for a coffee.
I had on my OVLR cap. “Take your hat off” she said, An
overweight silly little bitch. “I beg your pardon?” Take your hat
off” I had put my money on the counter. “Why” I said. “Dress
code” So I shot her. And I made that up. I collected my money
off the counter and said “Good Day to you” very loudly, and
walked out. It will get around the town. The place will fail. I
will NOT take my OVLR hat off before I am seated.
And it is true
New Wipers: So. Effin Ada received one of Mr Halfords
wiper “refills”. In this case a bit like refilling a biro with an
empty tube. It looked the part, inasmuch as the constabulary
couldnt tell the difference,and I hadnt got a bit of wayward rubber waving hello at them,but the DA complained she was
unable to see out.
Now my response to this was that:
a) She could see out of the door windows, and:
b) I was driving. (Important bit of argument that.I’m quite
proud of it).
Let the record show it didnt work. And I still cant work out
why. The so called refills have cost me a good bit of cash in
Ibuprofen for my wallet. This *is* Robin Hood country,but
why the refills should assume the shape of his bow is beyond
me. They wipe where they touch,at either end of the blade.
Curved windshields they may work on,but *flat* <gasp>.
Whoever heard of flat glass to look out of?
Not to worry. It looked the part,and I was still driving. Ermm
I think. Well, I was when I was on my own in the cab.
MY wiper was still OK,well,was. Hello constable,it just fell
apart. “Look Mike”. Oh dear,she’s getting serious. I can tell. It
always starts “Look Mike”. “You are really going to have to go
up to Merrylees and get some new blades”. As always the last
word, “Yes dear”. OK that’s two, but how much better can you
get? The daft part about all this was that with the wiper bit
stripped off what was left did a better job than than the
“repaired” bit. Of course Kenner would have just “rested” the
the old ones… Or done without. Now why didnt I think of
that? MoT that’s why.
Bastards.
So I rang “The Lads” They do mail order these days and with
diesel at £4.50 a gallon I reckoned it would be cheaper to get
them to send me two proper blades and two arms. What really
was scary was that the young lady that answered the phone took
part of my order,then asked Mike if they could deliver to my
address.
“Mike Rooth?” I heard in the background “Course we can,
give me the phone”. Followed a long conversation. Scary.
Once seen never forgotten. Mind you,there was a certain
amount of character assination…
I’m not telling, No.
Bribes? The bungalow two doors down has been sheduled
for demolition for a couple of years now. Nothing wrong with
it structurally, but the old lady died and the vultures moved in..
However,it was little alarming this morning to come back from
town (free on the bus both ways), to see a pickup parked outside it with the legend “Explosive Experts” on the side. Shame
really because although neglected the house would have been
ideal for a first time buyer at the right price,who would have
had the money and perhaps the energy to put it right. Family
feuds however. The local Tesco store (shop) is expanding.
Again. Pile driving.
Thump, thump, thump all bloody day. Trouble is the place
is built on top of a disused brick quarry,which when I was a kid
(I was once, you know) was a marvel for wildlife. Fox, badger,
waterfowl, Barn Owls in the disused buildings,watercress in the
25
eventually filled in conventionally (no more gypsum), and the
builer applied for Planning Permission to build houses on it. In
no uncertain terms he was informed that not until 25 years had
passed would anything be permitted on that site. Hence the
pile driver.I asked one of the site blokes what was going on, and
he said that some of the piles had to go down as much as 15
metres (45 to 50 feet.) By my recollection the pit was twice that
depth just there. The car park has vents sunk into it,with twee
little rotating thingumies on top. In summer you can still catch
a whiff of H2S.
streams draining into it,wonderful to a tresspassing lad forbidden to go anywhere near it. Bloke found two 5 ton steam tractors in the undergrowth,which became one 5 ton steam
tractor,built by Robeys of Lincoln,and called “Village Queen”.
I drove it at age about 15. Wickedly fast,a lovely little thing. 30
mph *is* wickedly fast for a steam tractor..
However,the derelict pit was bought by a local builder,who
proceeded to have it filled in with unwanted plaster board.
Gypsum in effect. British Gypsum in fact. “It is inert” quoth
he. Well,inert it may be,but chucked in water it produces quantities of H2S. The stink was awful, and the effect on the local
drainange system had to be imagined. My mother cleaned her
brass,copper and silver one afternoon (I was there, and so was
the DA,pre marriage) and the next day the silver was black, the
copper purple and the brass looked as though it had not been
cleaned ever.
After a public meeting and a court case,the builer was
ordered to”Cease the Nuisance” and employed a “mug” in an
aluminium boat at the then astronomical wage of £400 a
WEEK to chuck chemical into the water. Transpired that had
he fallen in he would have been instantly dead.
The water was a green never seen in nature. The pit was
26
I own the slow lane:
However and nonetheless,we set off on the bypass. Load
three adults, and two dogs. Series Land Rovers dont somehow
*fit* on dual carriageways. Ada cruises quite nicely in O/D
top,but I can tell she isnt really quite happy. Mind you, there
are very few people prepared to argue the toss.
However,since this village is off the beaten track somewhat,we were soon on to country roads,where O/D is not really
applicable due to twists and turns and keeping control,and
gradually the Series Land Rover started to make sense.These
were the roads it was born to. It becomes boss of other vehicles
who cant go any faster because,among other things,their drivers bums are about three inches off the road and they cant see
a thing around the hedges.They cant overtake for this reason
alone,so I collected a nice tailback on the way there and back.
VERY satisfying.The road ahead was clear. But in truth,had
they overtaken,they could not have gone much faster in any
safety because of limited visibility.
Ada was happy burbling away,it is the English spring,with all
the blossom out,so I was happy,the Lurcher in the back was
eyeing up potential prey in following cars so I assume a certain
happiness on her part,the little Jack Russell was asleep on his
mums knee..er..oblivious,and there was a lot of gobbing it to
my left. Women do,you know. I enjoyed showing Ada what she
was born to.After all,there are precious few of these old country roads left now. But,and this is the problem,what am I going
to do with a two foot long by fourteen inches deep by similar
height…er..sort of casket thing?
I mean it looks great,but??
Things you never wanted to know.And that Charles Clark
didnt know even though he did. Arrogant bastard.
I smoke. Not PC, but I’m neither ashamed of it nor am I
going to stop. After all, I, and others like me, pay a considerable
amount into the Treasury (or Usury),so they must be satisfied
with that. So there. I may go back to my pipe, but the DA has
to be tackled first. Hmm. Right. What has this to do with anything?
Bloody Nora had an ashtray. I bought it after I bought her,
and screwed it to the dash panel on the passenger side of the
old 11A. The DA smokes as well. I always intended to get
another for me, but allofasuddenpeggy they went off the market. So. The accepted procedure was to chuck the fag end out
of the window. As it is with Effin Ada. Well, they are biodewhatsit arent they? However things change (or so the politicians always tell us) and it became necessary to visit my father
in hospital in Leicester.
Pronounced Lester. Not Leechester,or whatever. Speak your
own language. But dont maul mine. Leicester likes to think it
is “green.” In fact it is a dump. However they frown on Land
Rover drivers chucking fag ends out Land Rover windows.Or
any other windows for that matter. Now the S111 has this great
big shelf that caps the dashboard. Personally,I’ve always liked
the 11A setup with the instruments in the middle. I mean the
MG TC, as I remember (possibly wrongly) had the speedo on
the passenger side, to terrify the girlfriend, and the rev counter
where it mattered. But I digress.Again. This huge shelf should
be of some use. The DA stubs her fags out on the carpet. And
before you all shout “wimp” it was there when I bought the
thing.The carpet I mean. Well,the DA was as well. Oh work it
out yourselves. Now I did mention I used to smoke a pipe. And
may do again.
I still have all of them including my favourite two,one of
which was bitten by my late Border Terrier,and taped up, and
one which ends just about under the nose. It is called a Billiard. All this waffle means I have several empty tobacco
tins,usually holding little nuts and bolts.In what I like to call
“The Workshop” but what is actually a shed. And tobacco tins
make good ashtrays dont they? Yes they do,so dont argue.And
the S111 has a big,useless shelf above its dash. It does so dont
argue again.
But. If you put a tobacco tin on it it falls orf dont it?
No? Try it.It will. Trust me,I’m old and wise.Well, old anyway.
Brainwave! Velcro!
The DA bless her went into town this very morning and got
some self adhesive (sticky to you ignorant lot) Velcro. Except
you cant actually *call* it Velcro,it is “Loop and Hook” apparently. So Ada has an ashtray on the shelf above the dash. Wills
Navy Cut if you are interested.The tin I mean. No? Well I
didnt like it myself. Condor Ready Rubbed is my choice.But
I’ve got an ashtray. And if she stubs another fag out on the
bloody floor.. I probably wont say a word.
G’night kids.
27
the 23rd OVLR Birthday Party

15 July 2006 www.ovlr.org Volume XXIII, Number 7

Transcription

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